


Ghosts

by neosaiyanangel



Category: Halloween (2018)
Genre: Confrontations, Family Issues, Gen, Ghosts of the Past - Freeform, Paranoia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:48:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28197927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neosaiyanangel/pseuds/neosaiyanangel
Summary: The family boogeyman will not ruin another life.
Relationships: Karen Nelson & Allyson Nelson, Karen Nelson & Laurie Strode
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ijemanja](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ijemanja/gifts).



“He’s coming.” Laurie circled around the kitchen table, looking out the window to the woods. Her hair was mussed, as if she hadn’t tended to it in weeks. Wild eyes turned their attention to Karen. “He’ll be here, and he’ll kill me, and then  _ he’ll kill you _ .”

“Mommy, you’re scaring me,” Karen said as she cowered by the table. Her pigtails bounced against the side of her head as her little hands gripped the table legs until they were white.

“Yes, you should be scared. Because  _ he’s coming _ . He’s coming, and he’ll-” She was cut off by a knife through her chest. The blood splattered Karen in the face. Laurie’s expression slackened as she fell forward off the knife and crumpled in a pile on the floor. Karen couldn’t even scream as she took in the figure that now stood in front of her.

It was just as her mother had described. A tall shadow, a nightmare of a man, with a blank white mask and thick meaty arms. There was no noise beyond his stiff breathing and her gasping breaths.

“Michael…” Karen whispered to herself.

He grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up. His knife glinted in the faint light from outside while her mother’s blood dripped from the blade. Finally, Karen was able to scream as he lifted his arm up, angling the knife just so-

“KAREN!”

She came to screaming. Shaking, trying to suppress her terror, she looked around trying to figure out  _ where he was _ .

Except...she wasn’t in the house anymore.  _ That _ house. She was in a bedroom, decorated in nice calming colors and all-curves furniture, with a man that had shaken her to consciousness.

Right. She was home. Not at her mother’s house. She was home, with her husband and their daughter, away from anything that would ever want to hurt her or them.

Ray was holding her then. His soft yet solid arms wrapped around her let her calm down faster than if she’d been alone.

“Shhhh. It’s okay, Karen. He isn’t here. It’s just you, and me, and our baby,” Ray soothed.

Yes. It was just them. The Boogeyman that was her uncle wasn’t there. He was locked up. They were all safe and sound away from it all.

Still, the terror of the nightmare pricked at her heart. She couldn’t stop herself as she shakily got up and mumbled, “I need to see Allyson.”

Ray protested, “Karen, it’s  _ three in the morn _ -”

She didn’t stop to listen to his complaint. Karen knew he was right but didn’t care. What she needed at the moment was to make sure her baby was okay.

Karen didn’t even bother to quietly open the door. She practically broke it as she burst through it to her daughter’s room. Swiftly she wrapped her arms around her daughter who was now fussing in her lap.

“Mommy? What’s goin’ on?” Then Allyson actually looked at Karen. “Mommy! You’re crying!”

“I just...Mommy got worried about you, that’s all,” Karen said as gently as she could. She rocked her daughter back and forth, whispering sweet nothings until her daughter calmed. It took a few more minutes before Allyson had fallen back asleep.

Karen observed her daughter as she slumbered. At five years old, she was so innocent. Just starting school in the next month, her life was just beginning.

She couldn’t help but to think back to her own youth. When most children were having playdates with neighborhood children, she was training with a rifle. Where her daughter was learning the alphabet, Karen had been learning the secret escape routes in the house.

Watching her daughter have pleasant dreams...it made Karen feel some hope. Hope that the future wasn’t the grim reality that her mother had painted. That the ghost of their family would stay trapped in his own haunted house that was the prison he stayed locked in. Locked away from their family for the rest of his life.

They were safe. Her, her daughter, her husband...they were all safe.

Even with that thought in her head as she set her daughter back in her bed, Karen couldn’t help but to have that same old repeat in her head.

_ What if he gets out, Karen? What if he finds all of us? How will you defend yourself? How will you defend your daughter? How will you fight against Michael? _

Karen shook her head as she went to her own bed. Her body was tired and yearned for sleep. Ray had already gone back to sleep. It was a familiar routine at this point. Sometimes he stayed awake to make sure she was okay. It didn’t matter one way or the other. The only difference it made was if he got more or less sleep.

She laid down and let her body relax.

_ What if, Karen? _

Sleep never came.


	2. Chapter 2

Karen was waiting for Allyson outside of her school. It had been an average day. Karen had a headache, and Ray had to stay at work late. It was all okay. Nothing would get in the way of after-school activities with Allyson. Some nice, relaxing gymnastics would make the day better.

When Allyson finally appeared, Karen couldn’t help but to notice that there was something...wrong. Normally Allyson bounced out of school, happily mumbling nothings about the day. Her bubbly personality never failed to pick Karen’s mood up.

Today...she was subdued. Allyson was frowning. There was nothing fun in her demeanor. Just...sadness. Worry.

“What’s wrong, sweetie?” Karen asked as Allyson slowly opened the car door. “Did you have a rough day?”

“Mommy…” Allyson sounded like she was on the verge of crying. “I, I don’t want Michael to get me.”

Karen’s heart froze as something in her head creaked. Lip twitching, she asked, “Honey, who talked to you about this? Who told you about Michael?”

Allyson hiccuped. “N-nana. Nana came for lunch to talk. We went out for pizza…”

She let Allyson talk while the flame in her head burned sense to the ground.

_Nana_ . Mother. Laurie. What was she doing, bothering her eight-year-old granddaughter like that? Why _now_ ? Michael had been shut away for _decades_ at this point. Why did she suddenly decide…?

Halloween. Right. Halloween was coming up. That always got her mother’s spooks up.

There was one thing Karen had to do before she could go home.

“Sweetheart, could you stay here for a minute? I need to go inside for a minute.” Karen kissed her daughter’s head before leaving. The car was on and toasty. The town was safe. There was no point in being paranoid about it.

It only took a minute to get to the office. On the way, she let the fury in her mind show on her face. She not quite threw open the door and stormed in.

“May I help-” The secretary pulled back when she caught sight of Karen.

“”Where. Is. Your. Boss.”

“J-just a second, ma’am.” The secretary scurried to the back. Karen impatiently tapped her foot as she fumed. She just focused on the anger in her mind, keeping the flame hot until she got who she needed to burn with it.

After a minute, a stern-looking woman came in, followed by the secretary. “May I help you, Mrs. Nelson?”

“My daughter. You let _my mother_ take my daughter out of school without permission.”

The other woman made a calming motion. “Students can be removed from school by family for emer-”

“My mother is NOT ON THE APPROVED LIST!” Karen yelled. She narrowed her eyes. “She may be family, but she is not on the emergency list, or the contact list, or _any_ list.” Karen felt her face heating up in rage. “You will NEVER let my mother take my daughter out of school _again_. Do you understand?”

“Ma’am-”

“Don’t you ‘ma’am’ me!” Karen snapped. “Don’t condescend me! My mother is _not_ to have _any_ contact with my child! _None_!”

The woman puckered her lips before reluctantly saying, “I understand. We’ll place Laurie Strode on the restricted list.”

“Good.” Karen clenched her fists, letting her knuckles pop as she took a breath out. Then she turned and walked right back out the door.

Now she let the flame die out. Anger wouldn’t help her with her next visit.

* * *

A call. A call would have sufficed. Karen had the thought in her head as she waited outside her mother’s stronghold. She could have just called. Why didn’t she call?

Except she knew why. If she’d called, her mother would just hang up when Karen got to her points. Or, worse, Karen would hang up out of frustration. This needed to be talked out. Or, at least, an understanding made.

Finally, after a minute of waiting, the gate opened slowly. Karen drove in. She kept repeating the points she wanted to make in her head. Laurie was stubborn, so making the solid bullet points would be helpful.

Her mother had the door open as soon as Karen was at the door. She had the familiar jaded look in her eyes as she asked, motioning Karen in, “So, what brings you to my door?”

“Allyson,” Karen said instantly as Laurie shut the door and put all of the locks in place.

It took a moment before Laurie spoke. “What about her?”

“You took her from school.” The accusation was plain as day.

“Yes. I did.” Her mother looked at Karen defiantly. “I wanted to spend some time with her.”

“And tell her about Boogeyman Michael!” Karen hissed.

“She needs to know.”

“ _No she doesn’t_!” Karen threw her hands up. “Allyson doesn’t need to know about Michael!”

“She needs to be prepared,” Laurie insisted.

“ _She’s eight_! How do you think an eight-year-old is going to be prepared?!”

“I got _you_ prepared, didn’t I?” her mother countered.

“And LOOK at HOW WELL _that_ turned out,” Karen snapped. “No Michael but a _load_ of issues!”

“You just _don’t understand_. If you’d gone through what I went through-”

“But I didn’t! Michael hasn’t escaped!” She got in her mother’s face. “ _We are safe_ . Michael isn’t going to, to just _jump out_ of the closet or anything! He’s locked up! We don’t have to worry about him, or what he’ll do, or what he’s eating for lunch.” Now she shoved a finger between them, pointing accusingly at Laurie. “It isn’t anything I need to worry about, or you need to worry about...it’s _especially_ not something that Allyson needs to worry about.”

“I’m trying to protect her,” Laurie seemed to think she was reasoning. “He’s _evil_. He won’t hesitate to kill any of us.” She took a step back. “I know you think I’m crazy, but you had to have been there.”

Karen stared. “I lived that way for _years_ , Mom. I lived like I _had_ been there. I was _a child_ that was scared that the monster in our family was coming for me. You made me think…!” She let a breath out. “God, why am I even bothering to talk about this with you? You just can’t understand…”

“I suppose I can’t understand you in the same way you can’t understand me,” Laurie said.

Karen sarcastically nodded. “For once, we agree on something.”

Her mother frowned. “He’ll come for us someday.”

“No he won’t.” Karen walked back to the door and undid all the locks. “Michael will never come for any of us. You’re just trapped in your own personal nightmare. You inflicted me with it…” she opened the door “...you won’t get my daughter.” Staring daggers into Laurie she demanded, “You won’t speak to Allyson again.”

“Karen-”

“You will not talk to her, you will not look at her…” Karen said a little too loudly, “You will not even be there to cheer her on in softball games! You will _stay away_. Got it?”

Her mother was quiet for a moment. “...Yeah, Karen, I get it. No more contact with my granddaughter.”

“Good.” Karen wasn’t in the mood for a goodbye. So, instead, she just walked out the door, shutting it behind her.

That was that. Laurie knew not to bother Allyson anymore. Allyson would be safe, and happy, growing up like any normal teenager. She wouldn’t be bothered by any of their family ghosts anymore.

_But what if, Karen?_


End file.
